Alexanderwerk AG

What Alexanderwerk AG does

Alexanderwerk AG is a German mechanical engineering company that designs and manufactures dry compaction and granulation systems, primarily roller compactors and rotor fine granulators. Founded in 1885 in Germany and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 1899 (ticker ALXA), the company serves pharmaceutical, life sciences, chemical, food and nuclear technology manufacturers that need to transform powdery raw materials into defined, free-flowing granules. Its product portfolio spans pharmaceutical-grade single-sided cantilevered roller presses (BT 120 Pharma, WP 120/150/200 Pharma) for R&D and production, double-sided bearing roller compactors for chemical-industry use (PP 150 C through PP 500, with throughputs up to 50,000 kg/h), and rotor fine granulators (RFG 150 DA and the RFG 250 family). Differentiated features include the patented Combi-Vent-Feeder feed system, vertical roller arrangement independent of gravity, precision roller gap control of +/- 0.1 mm, and a multi-stage comminution design. The firm also runs proprietary testing facilities (Technikum) in Germany, the USA and China.

The company operates a holding-company structure, with Alexanderwerk AG as the listed financing and management entity, Alexanderwerk GmbH as the main operating unit, and additional subsidiaries for service, holding administration, US operations (including a Delaware real estate entity), Indian operations (Mumbai, since 2015) and Chinese trading (Shanghai, since 2017). A Colombian subsidiary opened in 2017 was closed in October 2023. Go-to-market is enterprise B2B direct sales supplemented by trade-show participation (ACHEMA, POWTECH, CPHI, etc.), regional sales offices, and long-standing academic and training partnerships (IMT Tours since 1998, Purdue, Sheffield, TH Hamburg-Harburg, University of Minnesota, Chinese Academy of Sciences, NUS).

Revenue is generated through four streams: machinery sales (hardware), rental machines from bases in Germany and the USA (managed services), contract compaction using customer-supplied materials (professional services), and custom plant engineering (professional services). Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Quality and regulatory credentials — DIN ISO 9001 since 1993 and FDA 21 CFR Part 11 audit success since 1997 — are core requirements in pharmaceutical customer acquisition.

Name

Alexanderwerk AG

Legal name

Alexanderwerk AG

Website

https://alexanderwerk.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1885

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Alexanderwerk AG is a German mechanical engineering company, listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 1899, that designs and manufactures roller compactors and rotor fine granulators for pharmaceutical, chemical, food, life science and nuclear-industry customers worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bochum

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Machinery Sales: Sale of roller compactors and rotor fine granulators for pharmaceutical, chemical, and food industries. Products include BT 120 Pharma, WP 120/150/200 Pharma, PP 150C/175/250/350/500, and RFG series granulators.
2. Rental Machines: Rental of compaction and granulation machinery from operational bases in Germany and USA to serve partners worldwide.
3. Contract Compaction: Production of smaller product batches using customer-provided materials under contract compaction arrangements.
4. Plant Engineering: Custom engineered solutions and plant engineering services including design, planning, and execution of complete industrial plants.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Alexanderwerk AG is a German mechanical engineering company that manufactures roller compactors and rotor fine granulators for the pharmaceutical, chemical, food, life science, and nuclear industries. The company's core products transform powdery raw materials with poor flowability into low-dust granulates with defined size, density, and hardness, supporting R&D-scale through high-volume production applications. In addition to equipment, Alexanderwerk provides plant engineering, contract compaction, rental machines, R&D services, and laboratory testing through its Technikum facilities in Germany, USA, and China.

Product overview

Alexanderwerk AG is a premium mechanical engineering company specializing in compaction and granulation systems. The product portfolio consists of three main equipment categories: (1) Single-sided cantilevered roller compactors for pharmaceuticals (BT 120 Pharma, WP 120 Pharma, WP 150 Pharma, WP 200 Pharma) ranging from research-scale (8-50 kg/h) to production-scale (250-500 kg/h); (2) Double-sided bearing roller compactors for chemical industries (PP 150 C, PP 175, PP 250, PP 350, PP 500) with throughputs from 400 kg/h up to 50,000 kg/h; and (3) Rotor fine granulators (RFG 150 DA, RFG 250 D, RFG 250 DL, RFG 250 DDL) for processing dry or slightly moist raw materials in pharmaceutical, chemical, food, life science, and nuclear technology applications. The company also offers comprehensive services including rental machines, custom plant engineering, contract compaction, research and development, and laboratory testing facilities (Technikum) across Germany, USA, and China.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BT 120 Pharma Single-sided cantilevered roller press designed for research and development use in the pharmaceutical industry, with throughput up to 8 kg/h (lactose), featuring a floating storage system for tool-free disassembly and modular design for quick tool changes.
• WP 120 Pharma Single-sided cantilevered roller press for pharmaceutical R&D and pilot plant operations, processing from 1g of material with throughput up to 50 kg/h (lactose) and a mobile design for flexible deployment.
• WP 150 Pharma Single-sided cantilevered roller press designed for pharmaceutical production with specially designed containment sealing system, featuring the patented Combi-Vent-Feeder, throughput up to 250 kg/h (lactose), suitable for compacting and granulating highly potent preparations.
• WP 200 Pharma Single-sided cantilevered roller press for pharmaceutical production, throughput up to 500 kg/h (lactose), covering frequently changing specialty products, small batches, and continuous operation compaction and granulation.
• PP 150 C Smallest double-sided bearing roller press in Alexanderwerk's chemical-industry line, with throughput up to 400 kg/h (lactose), maximum linear pressing force of 30 kN/cm, suitable for research, development, pilot plants, and production.
• PP 175 Double-sided bearing roller press for economical compaction in the chemical industry, with 175 mm roller diameter, throughput up to 600 kg/h (up to 2,400 kg/h with four augers), maximum linear pressing force of 243 kN/cm, featuring the patented Combi-Vent-Feeder.
• PP 250 Double-sided bearing roller press for the chemical industry with 250 mm roller diameter, throughput up to 4,000 kg/h, maximum linear pressing force of 514 kN/cm, featuring the patented Combi-Vent-Feeder for improved venting and larger product feeding.
• PP 350 Double-sided bearing roller press with 350 mm roller diameter, throughput up to 6,000 kg/h, maximum linear pressing force of 900 kN/cm, featuring the patented Combi-Vent-Feeder and modular design with double-sided bearing rollers.
• PP 500 One of Alexanderwerk's largest machines for the chemical industry with 500 mm roller diameter, throughput up to 50,000 kg/h, maximum linear pressing force of 2,057 kN/cm, featuring the patented Combi-Vent-Feeder.
• RFG 150 DA Rotor fine granulator designed as a mounting unit for a universal drive motor, used for granulation and comminution of dry or slightly moist raw materials with throughput up to 400 kg/h and mesh sizes between 0.63 mm and 3.15 mm.
• RFG 250 D Rotor fine granulator for chemical, pharmaceutical, food, life science, and nuclear technology applications, throughput up to 1,500 kg/h, featuring diagonal granulation delivering up to 100% performance increase.
• RFG 250 DL Rotor fine granulator for granulation and comminution of dry or slightly moist raw materials, throughput up to 3,000 kg/h, part of the Type 250 rotor fine granulator series.
• RFG 250 DDL Highest-capacity rotor fine granulator in the Type 250 series, throughput up to 4,500 kg/h, used for granulation and comminution of dry or slightly moist raw materials.
• Plant Engineering Customized plant engineering services including testing methods, machine design, plant planning, and execution of complete industrial plants, combining Alexanderwerk's own components with third-party components.
• Rental Machines Rental machine services providing compaction and granulation equipment from operational bases in Germany and the USA, including test runs in laboratory facilities and commissioning support for customer trials.
• Contract Compaction Contract compaction services for producing product batches using customer-provided materials, where customers define batch format, granulate quality requirements, and submit safety datasheets for processing.
• The Laboratory (Technikum) Technical center with comprehensive testing of processes and methods, identifying optimal machines and process parameters through Design of Experiments (DoE); testing facilities are available in Germany, USA, and China for customer trials.
• Research & Development Research and development services focused on continuous optimization and innovation of compaction and granulation products, recognized in the 'Lexikon der deutschen Maschinenbauer' (Lexicon of German Mechanical Engineers).
• Compaction & Granulation Services Process services that transform powdery raw materials with poor flowability into low-dust granulate with good flowability, using both dry and wet granulation methods based on roller compaction technology.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 100% increase in performance with diagonal granulation technology
• +3 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• IMT (Group Imt - Formations Industries)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1998Long-term partnership since 1998 with French technology research center in Tours. IMT organizes monthly two-day workshops on dry compaction combining theory and practical training on Alexanderwerk WP 120 Pharma. Partnership enables intensive exchange of information and has generated many new customers.
• University of Sheffield (UK)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRenowned international research facility partner for active sharing of information and know-how with students, post-graduates, and lecturers.
• TH Hamburg-Harburg (Germany)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical University partnership for research collaboration in compaction and granulation technology.
• Purdue University (USA, IN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational research partnership for continuous pharmaceuticals production research. Joint activities include national and international research projects, seminars, workshops, and courses expanding theoretical understanding of dry compaction and granulation.
• University of Minnesota (USA, MN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRenowned international research facility partnership in the pharmaceutical sciences for active sharing of information and know-how.
• Academy of Sciences (P.R. China)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational research partnership with Chinese Academy of Sciences for collaboration in compaction and granulation technology.
• National University of Singapore (Singapore)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational research partnership enabling continuous innovation of products through joint events, research projects, seminars, workshops, and courses.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• GEA Group: Large global industrial machinery group serving pharma, food, and chemical industries with a broad portfolio of separation, homogenization, and process equipment. Broader incumbent that includes but is not specialized in dry compaction/granulation.
• IMA Group: Italian global leader in pharmaceutical processing and packaging machinery. Larger incumbent with extensive pharma customer overlap, though its core lies in packaging and processing rather than dedicated compaction technology.
• Bühler Group: Swiss family-owned industrial machinery group serving food, feed, and advanced materials with processing equipment. Comparable on the food-industry side of Alexanderwerk's customer base, though much larger and more diversified.

Direct peers

• Glatt Group: German pharmaceutical process technology specialist offering fluid bed granulation, coating, and continuous manufacturing solutions. Highly comparable to Alexanderwerk in serving solid dosage form pharmaceutical customers with capital equipment.
• Lödige Maschinenbau GmbH: German manufacturer of mixing, granulating, drying, and reacting machines for pharma, chemical, and food industries. Overlaps with Alexanderwerk's chemical/food granulation and compaction product lines.
• L.B. Bohle Maschinen + Verfahren GmbH: German Mittelstand manufacturer of pharmaceutical processing machinery including granulators, dryers, and tablet coaters. Direct competitor in the same German pharma-equipment cluster, with overlapping pharma/food customer base.
• Fitzpatrick (The Fitzpatrick Company, IDEX): Long-established US manufacturer of roller compactors (Chilsonator) and hammer mills serving the same pharmaceutical, chemical, and food dry-compaction markets as Alexanderwerk. Direct head-to-head competitor in roller compaction technology.
• Freund-Vector Corporation: US-based manufacturer of roller compactors (GRC series), granulators, and fluid bed dryers for the pharmaceutical industry. Closest functional competitor to Alexanderwerk's WP Pharma and PP-series roller presses.
• Hosokawa Micron Group: German-headquartered specialist in powder and particle processing technologies — including compaction, granulation, milling, and classification — serving pharma, chemical, food, and mineral markets. Direct overlap with Alexanderwerk's granulator and compaction portfolio.

Emerging players

• Frewitt SA: Swiss specialist in milling, granulation, and sieving equipment for pharma and fine chemicals. Niche player with partial product overlap in granulation and comminution technologies complementary to Alexanderwerk's RFG series.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/alexanderwerk-ag

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Alexanderwerk AG